Gaara and the 'Club'
by Temari 88
Summary: Born from an image showing some of those who got changed by Naruto, in one way or another… here is this collection of one-shots told in Gaara's POV! *Complete title inside: it was too long :P*
1. Konohamaru

_Hello everyone! :D_

_It's been awhile, but my finals are finally over (with a score of 72/100) and I'll be __able to concentrate on the things I've left unfinished! Yahoo!_

_This story will be composed of 4-5 un-related chapters; the link to all the characters is the influence (direct or un-direct) Naruto has had on them... the idea came from a picture I've got saved in my computer since forever, that shows some of those who got they're views changed by the blond :D  
Starting from this info the characters will be (not necessarily in this order): Konohamaru, Inari, Neji, Tsunade and - maybe, not sure yet, I'll see if I can get around with that - Sasuke..._

_The fiction is told from Gaara's POV for two simple reasons: I like him (;P) and because he's without a doubt the one who changed the most after his encounter with Naruto so I think interesting the possibility of seeing him interact with people who got the same experience. Presumptuous? Maybe, but oh well XP_

_**Words:**__ 4200 more or less_

_**Disclamer:**__ I don't own Naruto or its characters_

_Read&Review!_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 XD_

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**Gaara and the 'We-Got-Some-Sense-Beaten-Into-Us-By-Naruto' club**

_**(Gaara and Konohamaru)**_

After the usual three-days journey from Sunagakure to Konohagakure, we had finally walked through the gates of the Leaf Village. Temari and Kankurou had bid me goodbye two minutes before and walked in opposite directions to mind their business: we had agreed to have some free time until the time for the meeting with the Hokage arrived – there were still a couple of hours to go. I was left on my own (without taking into account the two ANBU shinobi standing a little ways behind me) to decide how to pass the remaining time.

I could just have paced calmly around the village, but I really didn't feel like it – not on my own, at least. As much as I wouldn't want to admit it, I've become fond of having people around me… _certain_ people, the right ones. For this reason I made up my mind and started walking at a lazy pace toward a place where I hoped to find one of those people: it had been a while since the last time we had seen each other, and the occasion hadn't been one of the best… I felt the desire to talk to him, I wanted to… how does he call it?… Catch up? That's it. I wanted to catch up with him. I wanted to know about his trainings, because I was sure he had improved… that's what friends do, right?

… I looked around and while responding politely to the greetings reaching my ears, I couldn't help but wonder: I was still not so used to that kind of reaction from people outside of my village but I was happy and it showed in the way I held myself – shoulders relaxed, absence of a frown on my face and hands folded behind my back.

As I approached my destination, I saw a young boy – around twelve or thirteen years of age – wearing an impossibly long scarf flowing behind him, rushing past me and directed ahead. Right after the boy other two kids of the same age came up at a slower pace and involuntarily I heard them mumble, a name in particular making me focus on them instead of tune them out like I would have usually done.

"… Uff… what's the deal with Konohamaru-kun running away like that? It's like he's chased by a group of rabid dogs…!" I heard one of the kids say; she was a little girl with a weird hairstyle and by the looks of it, she was quite annoyed.

"You don't know it, Moegi-chan?" the other kid answered; he was wearing very large, round glasses that were threatening to fall off his nose. "Konohamaru is rushing to Ichiraku Ramen because Naruto-nii-san has just come back from his latest mission."

"Wha? Naruto-nii-san's back? Why didn't you tell me before Udon? Come on, let's go greet him!"

Then I saw the girl running off as well with her companion jogging behind, both directed to the ramen stand at the end of the street. It was strange to hear someone call Naruto 'nii-san' yet it was a good kind of strange because it showed the respect and the devotion the new generation had for a great shinobi like he is. I found a small smile beginning to make its way to my mouth when I arrived at hearing distance from the food stand; I stopped a couple of meters away to quietly observe the scene.

It came to my mind that I'd never had the chance of seeing Naruto interact with his fellow villagers before, only with some of his companions during missions and it really was a different situation: when in a mission you can never let your guard slip, even when you joke around, but now… Naruto and his team were enjoying their spare time together and I was suddenly curious.

As I watched, my blond friend, Sakura, Kakashi and a raven-haired shinobi I had never met before exited from Ichiraku to be greeted by the shouting kid with the scarf, who was pointing a finger at Naruto in what I believe was a challenge, as he completed the justu that had a bunshin appearing. As soon as Naruto saw the two identical kids, he smirked and took a few steps ahead – I noticed then that he had a bandaged arm held to his neck by a sling and wondered if it was anything serious – and yelled right back.

"Let's see how good you've become, Konohamaru! C'mon!" the others standing behind Naruto were confused (even though the pale guy had no expression whatsoever), while the kids seemed both expectant and bored. I continued to look on quietly, only to find my breath cut abruptly and my eyes bulging out of their sockets when the boy with the scarf used the Henge no Jutsu to transform into…

"**Oiroke: Onna no ko Doushi no Jutsu**!"

_Oh. My. God. The bunshins turned into girls…! Naked girls! In the middle of a street! Is that kid crazy? What is he thinking?… Surely Naruto won't— I can't believe it!_ that's what I thought when I saw the blond ninja who had his eyes wide open for a whole different reason than me and let everyone know he approved the 'show'… somehow, I think I should have predicted this as Kankurou had labelled Naruto a 'pervert' more than once before, but I didn't really understand what he meant until now… I didn't know how to react to that – should I have been embarrassed? Disbelieving? Disgusted? – I resolved it by coughing and shaking my head.

I _did_ feel bad for Konohamaru, though, when Sakura punched him – to his credit, he stood his ground well – the kunoichi was mad, that much was clear, and kept sending daggers with her eyes to my friend.

"Is _this_ what you two do, when you meet up, uh?" she yelled at Naruto, who waved his uninjured arm to tell her she was misunderstanding.

"No, no… you see, this jutsu can work as a diversion… let's say you could call it a battle between two people who like the challenge…" he explained but Sakura didn't seem to buy it.

"Diversion? Who do you think you're kidding? That would work only on you two pervy ninja!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, the scarf-kid performed another justu… or better, a new version of the previous one, as he transformed into – I can't say it… well, the situation was made uselessly clear when Naruto's raven-haired companion spoke.

"Oh… it's Sakuke-kun and me…"

What shocked me more was – besides seeing a naked Uchiha, whom I really don't like in the slightest, and that guy equally naked… **still** in the middle of a street – Sakura's face: a perfect mirror of Naruto's one of just a minute before… and Naruto had the same disgusted face Sakura had before… they're team mates all right…

At that point I really started thinking that maybe my idea of watching how my blond shinobi friend acted around his precious people on his free time was not as good as it had seemed at the beginning. I found myself realizing that it had probably been Naruto to teach that technique to Konohamaru in the first place - or something of that kind – and wondered how a female version of Naruto would look, only to push that rather disturbing thought out of my mind right away.

I decided against going up to the group of ninja (the Suna delegation was meant to stay in Konoha all week, so I had all the time to talk to Naruto), turned left down a secondary street and began wandering about without a destination. I walked leisurely for maybe half an hour, when I came across the training grounds of the village; at first I didn't hear anything but after listening more carefully, I heard voices and curiosity got the better of me – I headed to where the noise seemed to come from and was faced with the same boy from the ramen stand, Konohamaru, training under the eye of a man with sunglasses and dressed in the typical chunnin/jounin attire Konoha shinobi wore.

The sensei didn't look like he was very strong, but with the way his shoulders tensed I realized he had sensed me approaching but he also understood I was not an enemy and didn't mean to do nothing more than watch. The kid was so focused on his training – he was practising his katas and some justus – he didn't see nor hear me, in fact he wasn't even listening to anything his sensei said to him: the boy was muttering something under his breath that was most definitely starting to annoy the man standing behind him.

"Konohamaru-kun! Would you stop for a minute! I want to know where you went before, you and the other two as well…!"

"I went" came the answer from the young genin as he did a half turn kicking his right leg out "seeing Naruto-nii-san and" an uppercut "I showed him my improvements." the boy jumped up and threw two more kicks in the air before landing near his sensei and continuing to practise in taijutsu.

"What improvements? You shouldn't waste time with that kind of techniques; you shouldn't follow your whim, Konohamaru-kun, I already told you that if you do as I say, you'll get stronger faster…" said the man in a reprimanding voice that, to me, didn't seem entirely truthful – it was like he said that on purpose – but the boy didn't catch it because when he stopped to finally face his master with a scowl on his face, the man had taken on a full lecturing stance.

"I already told you, Ebisu-sensei, that I intend to follow the tips_ I_ choose." the genin had his arms crossed and a determined expression that rang a bell of familiarity in my mind. "And I decided to train hard because, as Naruto-nii told me, 'If you want a great title like Hokage, which everyone will acknowledge, there ain't going to be any shortcuts!' and I want to be prepared for when I'll fight him for that title!"

The boy turned around and resumed his hard work; with his back to the sensei, Konohamaru failed to notice the small smile tugging at the man's lips. For my part, I felt a swell of pride towards both Naruto and the boy.

One of my ANBU guards then informed me it was almost time for my meeting with Tsunade-sama, so I turned my back to the training grounds to head to the Hokage Tower.

On my way there, I thought back on that kid: I had been very surprised by both his words and attitude. At Ichiraku Ramen I had detected the signs of respect coming from Konohamaru, but now I realized there was something more to that… it was a kind of admiration similar to the one I myself felt towards the blond ninja and suddenly I felt a tad closer to the boy: we shared the same kind of feelings for Naruto.

Yet Konohamaru and me were also very different in that because I have the same age as Naruto so, even if I took at heart his words, I used them to carry on with my own idea of changing my life – they helped me to remain on the right path - whereas the genin is more or less four years younger, he met Naruto before starting the academy: he took the words said to him and became a sort of smaller, scarf-wearing version of the ex troublemaker – he made Naruto his role model, the back to follow to become strong, an older brother figure… _nii-san_, indeed…

While thinking over all this, I arrived to my destination; I knocked at the Hokage's door and was granted permission to enter, leaving the guards outside. As Tsunade-sama saw me, she raised a slender eyebrow over her shining hazel eyes with a look of surprise and curiosity.

"Something happened, Gaara-kun?"

"No, nothing really…"

"Is that so?" she asked, now smiling lightly. "If _nothing_ makes you smile like that, than it should happen more often."

My smile widened faintly, I'm sure she noticed but didn't comment, saying instead: "Let's get down to business, what you think?"

-x-

The meeting went smooth for the most part; the members of both Konoha's and Suna's council didn't put up much of a fuss, with the exception of the last point of the discussion, which was about Akatsuki and the recent events that had concerned the Fire Country's village: the fact that those two members – Hidan and Kakuzu, were the names - of the organisation managed to sneak inside and kill the son of the Sandaime Hokage had been taken rather badly by 'my' council.

Tsunade, who knew far better than me the situation concerning the attack, had sprung up immediately to defend her men. All throughout the exposition of the facts – from the failed subdue of the enemy right after the invasion, to the reckless chase of Nara's team – the woman had repressed her urge to throttle all the dimwits (I personally agreed with the Hokage) but when they said that, being a Jinchuuriki, it was all Naruto's fault, I became so furious I almost lost my control… only a hand on my arm refrained me.

Surprisingly, it had been Tsunade to stop me; her look told me to leave everything in her hands – it wouldn't be a good thing if I ended up killing Suna's council; at least Tsunade could be trusted to not cause fatal wounds – so I tried to calm and sit down once again, to enjoy the show.

And what a show it had been. One day, I will tell Naruto of the time I understood just how much _'__Tsunade-baa-chan__'_ really cares for him… I'll have to make sure she won't be within hearing distance.

After a quick goodbye, I parted ways from the Hokage to enjoy the evening in Konoha and hopefully get a chance to talk to Naruto.

-x-

My search was unfruitful but, even if I was a little disappointed that I didn't find my friend, I thought: _Oh, well, I have all week…_

I had just stripped off my formal clothing, in favour of a more comfortable pair of plain black pants and a long sleeved dark green shirt, and taken a seat on the windowsill from where a light breeze ruffled my hair when glancing out through the streetlamps still glowed yellow my eyes were captured in their wandering by a figure on top of the Hokage Tower… for what few things I knew of the villagers' habits, I could think of only one person who would be there in the middle of the night and for that, I hopped outside the room and jumped onto the rooftops separating me from the Tower.

I landed quietly on the railing delimiting the platform at the top of the building that faced the mountain where the faces of Hokages were carved; looking round, I found that I had been mistaking: it was not Naruto, the one sitting there… still I wasn't overly disappointed to see Konohamaru. I approached him calmly and spoke only when I was in his range of sight.

"Isn't it a bit late to be up?"

He startled even if my voice had been quiet. "Who're— oh… oh! You're the Kazekage, right?"

"Yes, yes I am." I took a seat on the bench near the boy, while his eyes seemed glued to me, and went on. "What are you doing up here?"

He looked away to refrain from letting me see that he didn't like my enquiring. "I… could ask you the same thing, you know?" he said defiantly.

"I have some trouble sleeping." I answered truthfully and he turned to stare at me surprised that I didn't reprimand him for his rudeness. Konohamaru stayed silent for some time, thinking over my reaction – or lack there of.

"… I was… thinking, that's all… I always come here when something bothers me…" he confessed mumbling.

"Ah… I know of someone that does the same exact thing…"

"Really? Who…?"

"I believe you know him too: I'm talking about Naruto Uzumaki." I said.

"Naruto-nii-san?" he turned toward the village sleeping behind us, eyes focused on the direction where my friend's house was. "You know him, Kazekage-san?" I scrunched up my nose at the 'Kazegage-san' bit.

"Gaara."

"Huh?" the genin was looking at me again.

"You can call me Gaara: I get enough of that 'Kazekage here, Kazekage there' stuff in the daylight…" I elaborated. "And, to answer your question, yeah I know Naruto _quite_ well…"

"Wow! Nii-san is friends with the leader of a foreign country! That's so cool!" Konohamaru's eyes were shining with admiration and I had to withhold a chuckle. "How long did you two know each other?"

"Uhm… four years, I think. Yes, how could I forget the head-to-head during that fight…?" I replied with a smirk as my forehead throbbed with the ghost of the pain I had felt back then. "Naruto is really stubborn; he wouldn't let me be even after I threatened to kill him…" I look at Konohamaru. "I'm serious. We were enemies. I tried with all my power to annihilate him…"

The boy didn't know how to take what I had just said. "Gaara-san… do you still want to hurt Nii-san?" I raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the hint of a dark aura arising around the genin. He went on without waiting for an answer. "Cause if you do, I'll kick your ass!"

I stared at the expression on his face for a second, before laughing out loud. "Aren't you underestimating me a little, there?" I said. "In any case, I have no intention of killing Naruto: he _is_ a very important friend… in fact, if I'm where I am right now, _he_ is the person I have to thank."

Silence stretched between us, but it was the same kind of quiet companionship I felt with my siblings or the blond shinobi and it hit me as strange that I would feel that way with a twelve-year old kid I'd just knew… I believe it was because we both held Naruto high on our list of precious people – which, for my part, is still rather short. I felt at ease with this genin (thinking that, I realized that Naruto was technically still a genin himself) and found I didn't mind telling him things I would normally keep to myself or sharing only with Naruto.

"He saved my life, you know. Not just once, but twice." I whispered looking down at the empty streets bathed in the stillness of the night – it must have been two of three in the morning. "Something no one had ever done before."

"Why is that?" said Konohamaru, genuinely curious with his brows furrowed. "You're nice, Gaara-san! Naruto-nii always speaks great about you!"

I was rather pleased to hear that last bit, but didn't comment on it. "Thank you, but when I was your age… everyone hated me; they saw me merely as a weapon." I said. "I'm sure you remember Suna's attack four years ago?"

The boy tensed up visibly but nodded. "Yeah… it was when Grandpa Hokage died…"

"Yes… I'm sorry for your loss…" I remembered those orders like just a day had passed. "During that invasion… it should have been my mission to destroy the village using my Bijuu… but I ended up fighting against Naruto. You know, I think he was afraid of me at first…"

A snort came from my side. "Afraid? Naruto-nii?"

"Yes. Because he saw what his life could have been, hadn't Umino-san and the others started caring for him… Naruto and I had very difficult lives; we where hated for what we carried – being a Jinchuuriki is an awful burden for a small child… more so if he's alone… When I first met him, I thought Naruto was… thrash. I didn't spare him a second glance: all I was interested in was Sasuke Uchiha; but when I saw his reaction after Hinata-san had been gravely injured and his threat at Neji-san… I understood he was like me; I thought he was a person worthy of being killed by my sand." I stopped to shake my head at my own stupidity back then.

"Then? what happened…?" I turned and saw Konohamaru staring at me, impatient to hear the rest of the story. I looked up, at the mountain from where the fathers of Konoha continued to look after their children.

"Then… well, I next saw Naruto at the hospital. I was about to… _dispose_ of Rock Lee – don't get me wrong, I don't feel that way towards none of them now – when he and Nara stopped me. I remember Naruto saying he had a 'bakemono' inside himself too."

"Bakemono? You mean… the Kyuubi?" I was slightly surprised that Konohamaru knew about the Nine-Tailed Kitsune being inside his 'nii-san' but I thought that by then everyone in the village knew, even the youngest generation, so I shrugged it off and continued – it was one of the longest speeches I had ever done.

"Yeah. That's why he could… empathise with what I was going through. When the attack began, I was fighting Uchiha and we took our 'match' outside the village walls; I managed to weaken him somehow and when I was about to finish him off, Naruto and Sakura-san arrived to stop me. Naruto… he was tougher than I first thought; I had a lot of fun beating him up but he responded with a determination I had never faced before." I said, smirking at the memory of those blue eyes alight with sheer will power. Konohamaru was smiling as well.

"When he hit me with that head-butt I felt my world shatter. It was quite scary, not knowing what to do anymore… I continued to ask myself how a loudmouth, obnoxious and graceless guy could be such a powerful shinobi; I didn't understand it. Then: 'I have friends that care for me. They saved me from the hell that was my existence and that acknowledge me. To save them, I'll stop you. Even it I have to kill you.'…"

"What's that?" the boy beside me was confused.

"The words Naruto told me. From that moment onward, everything changed. I have to thank him if now I'm here sharing this with you." I finished.

"… Wow…! Naruto-nii and Gaara-san… you're awesome!" Konohamaru had a huge grin splitting his face; he reminded me of Naruto once again. I chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Aren't you exaggerating?" I asked. The boy shook his head vigorously. "If that's the case, thank you; I'm sure Naruto would be happy to hear it too."

I stood up then and walked towards the railing at the edge of the flat roof, preparing to jump down. "It has been a most pleasant talk. I look forward to seeing you again and I'm sure next time you'll be stronger: you're just like Naruto, after all. Good night, Konohamaru."

It was almost four in the morning when I got back to my room – a couple of hours' sleep was more than enough for me. _I hope to see_ him _tomorrow…_ was my last thought of the night.


	2. Neji

_Hello! :D_

_I know it's been forever, but well I had a lot going on and the ideas for this just continued to fly away :P_

_Don't want to waste too much time on introduction, so I'll let you read the second one-shot with just this: the scene takes place in a__ more or less near future._

_Words: 2680 (more or less)_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 XD_

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**Gaara and the 'We-Got-Some-Sense-Beaten-Into-Us-By-Naruto' club**

_**(Gaara and Neji)**_

"Matsuri…" I called from inside my office.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama, do you need something?" came the answer, right away as always: I don't really mind it of course, an effective assistant in always useful; still, sometimes she tends to be a little overzealous and has this strange… uh, habit, I guess… of coming with me whenever I have to walk through the village and chase people away from me. No, it's not _people_ exactly. She chases away other _women_.

It is like what Temari used to do right after I started to make a name for myself as Kazekage: she would follow me around even when I said it wasn't necessary and if she saw a girl coming my way, to greet me or whatever, she would do this frightening sound – this remains between us, yeah? – almost like a snarl or a growl… and every female walking within ten feet from me would get either scared or stared at to death. Now Temari lives in Konoha, but it looks like I've got a substitute… rather annoying…

"Matsuri, has the messenger from Konoha arrived yet?"

"Uhm… the guards stationed on the north wall reported about a shinobi with what looked like a genin team nearing the village: it should take them another twenty minutes to arrive, though."

"Alright, thank you. You can go." I saw her bow slightly and retreat, closing the door behind her quietly.

I sat back on my chair and closed my eyes for a bit… I had been working since early morning due to the pile of documents that had accumulated during my last political journey to Konoha; I _had_ left the village with orders for Kankurou to take care of things while I was gone, but of course I should have known better than to expect him to do any paperwork that wasn't strictly necessary – meaning, the only things he did were hand out missions and sign mission reports – and leaving everything else to just pile up until I came back home.

Yeah, after all it's not like I need my sleep too, do I? Of course not…! Hah… sometimes people forget that I don't have a psychotic demon inside me anymore – rather ironic, ne? They assume that, having had insomnia for fifteen years, I can go without sleeping for weeks… sure, I _can_ put off sleeping if necessary, but for three or four of days at most (like everybody else). Well, I guess meditation helps in that case, but hell, there's a limit to everything and I had been going on reading and signing documents for a week straight _and still I wasn't seeing the bottom of the stack_.

I sensed someone at the door and opened my eyes slowly (least my shinobi see their Kazekage resting - I knew what that could cause: Tsunade-sama's reputation in Konoha came from that, along with the constant drinking while she should have been doing her work as Hokage; I had had enough hard time at the beginning to ruin everything now). A knock on the wooden door and I let Matsuri in with my guest.

"Kazekage-sama, the shinobi from Konoha has arrived, may I let him enter?"

"Yes, Matsuri, thank you." I answered with a small nod. She stepped aside and let Neji Hyuuga pass her before closing the door and leaving us alone.

It had been a while since the last time I had seen the white-eyed ninja: last time I went over to the Fire Country he'd been out on a mission with his Genin team (a group of rather lively kids that seemed to give him a hard time). I have to say, I was surprised to hear Hyuuga had decided to take a Genin team to train – I know, I'm the _last_ one who should say this - because he didn't look like the type who'd 'waste' his time looking after a bunch of youngsters… but I guess, when you have children of your own, things change...

I remember the first time I've seen Neji with his children; they were certainly quite the pair: both boys, Hyuuga Akira and Hyuuga Hikaru, had a year of difference (11 and 12); the differences didn't end there though: their character were at two opposites so where Hikaru was ruthless and charged head on, his brother was everything like his father. Both the young genin were very capable in fighting (even if the kids had the Hyuuga's bloodlimit, only Hikaru out of them was interested in his father's fighting style; Akira preferred his mother's: weapons had always fascinated him).

"Kazekage." said the Hyuuga as soon as the door had closed behind him, bowing shortly, before making his way in front of my desk and handing me the scroll I had been waiting.

"Welcome, Hyuuga-san. It wasn't necessary to bring the scroll personally; I had told Naruto to send it by bird…"

"It was no problem, Kazekage-sama." answered the shinobi with a smile. "Hokage-sama was eager to pass the news to you, so I offered; plus it's good for my team to visit other Hidden Villages."

"News? What kind of news…?" that certainly puzzled me: Naruto had told me he had something good for me, but he didn't bother on specifics dismissing it with a 'you'll see, you'll see!'. So I hastily opened the scroll I had in hand and read quickly only to find a smile blooming on my lips. "Haha! Well, these _are_ certainly good news, mph!"

"Congratulations, Gaara-san" said Neji with a smile of his own. "Your sister wanted you to be the first one to know (after her husband) but of course Naruto demanded to read the letter she was going to send you – he tried to disguise his nosiness with the excuse of 'Hokage's duties'… which earned him a good smack on the head with Temari-san's fan."

"Hah, I guess Naruto got what he deserved." I nodded solemnly, stifling an amused chuckle. "… How about your own children, Neji-san? Have they gotten used to their sensei?"

That time I had met them, the boys had been reticent about their jonin sensei: Nara Shikamaru takes a while to get used to, no one would deny that; to those who didn't know him he would come off as untrustworthy, because of his laziness – something not even my sister had been able to get him to grow out of. It was all an impression, though, as Nara was actually a very brilliant (probably the _most_ brilliant) strategist of Konoha and his friends closed an eye on his defects: there was so much you could do to make someone change…

"Well I guess, overall, they're starting to get him." replied Neji. "I'm most positive Shikamaru's students consider him hopeless and have therefore given up and surrendered to their fate…"

"Sou ka. If I'm not mistaken, the other genin in that team should be Hinata-san's daughter…" I wasn't sure but as the Hyuuga before me nodded I went on, reassured. "Then it's no wonder they think that: young Aya-chan has taken that part of her father's character… even if she not as annoying – she has Hyuuga blood in her veins, after all."

"Yes; thankfully her mother's genes have somewhat tamed those coming from the Inuzuka clan… she's also showing great skill with her byakugan, which is good because I have a hard time with Kiba's dogs alone when I visit them…"

We both went silent after that, each of us lost inside our own thoughts – I believe the Hyuuga was busy recalling some unpleasant memory about Inuzuka's dogs, seeing the slightly dark expression that had taken over his face – as the only sounds were the people passing in front of my office and the noise coming in from the open window behind me. I titled my head to the side, thinking over the current situation… if someone had told me, some years ago, that I would have found myself on this seat talking amiably to a Konohan shinobi, I would have laughed (if I had had any emotion beside anger, that is) and killed him or her right away (which is much more likely…) for saying such nonsense… sure, I would have never believed possible to even see the day when I would have had someone to call 'friend'…

An excitable, loud, at-times-idiotic, ramen-addicted, reckless, direct-to-the-point-of-being-rude, blond-haired best friend… the wonders of a head-butt… thank God he's matured…

Ah! Talking about rude…

"Neji-san… your genin team? Where are they…?"

"Oh, they're outside… I think your secretary is taking care of them. They were quite excited to come here…" said Neji.

"… Why don't you call them in?" I suggested: I was curious to see the man's team.

"If you don't mind, Gaara-san…" he shrugged a shoulder, went to the door, opened it, called his team and closed the door behind the kids. They stared at their sensei and then at me nervously, as I looked at them with a blank face. "Guys, this is Kazekage-sama."

The genin, two boys and a girl like was common, widened their eyes before rushing to do a respectful bow murmuring a reverent 'Kazekaze-dono' that made me smirk a little – no one had ever called me 'dono' before – and gave me a better chance to take them in: the girl had pink hair and hazel-colored eyes (it didn't take more than that to guess whose daughter she was); the taller of the boys had black hair and eyes; while the other boy had black hair and dark blue eyes.

"Neji-san, would you mind introducing them?" I asked, turning my attention on the jonin but keeping the youngsters in view: they had straightened up and were whispering among themselves, sending suspicious looks my way.

"Sure. The pink-haired girl is Haruno Misa, the tall boy is Saewara Kaito and the other raven-haired boy is Akimichi Chiba." replied Neji, smiling a little before scolding his team. "Guys…! You shouldn't be whispering behind other people's backs; much less in front of someone as important as Gaara-san."

The genin took on a guilty expression and went silent as they all started to blush in embarrassment; at that point I couldn't resist, I let a laugh escape my lips. At that, the kids seemed to actually relax, having understood that I wasn't angry. Together with relief, the genin team also found some cheekiness because suddenly the taller boy – Kaito – stepped forward.

"You're scary, Kazekage-san." he stated looking right at me, showing no fear despite what he'd just said. I simply smirked, having understood who had raised the kid.

"Yes, a number of people think that; but if I have to protect my village, inspiring fear in my enemies is quite important, don't you think?" I could hear a whispered 'Wow!' coming from the boy's team-mates.

"… And you act nothing like Hokage-san: you're cool!" added Kaito.

"Kaito-kun…! How can you those words? Hokage-sama has saved the village so many times!" his two peers were shocked by the other's rather offensive words.

On my part, if I was right about the kid's parentage, his attitude was to be expected – I'm sure Naruto is used to this kind of 'insults' and didn't really pay too much mind on it… plus the blond Hokage would never let his self-esteem be hit by something a twelve year-old said. To tell the truth, Kaito-kun wasn't even all that wrong: I mean, Naruto a times could be awfully 'un-cool', not to mention childish (take his absurd obsession with ramen)… all in all, it was no wonder children thought him to be artless, kind of sloppy and easily distracted.

If he was trying to be a better Hokage than Tsunade-san, I guess he wasn't doing a really great job… at least he doesn't get drunk or forgets to do his paperwork – he's not as stupid as he seems, in the end, because he uses kage bunshins for that and I believe he's the first 'Kage to come up with such idea – but what the new generation has yet to see of their Hokage was his great stamina and determination when dangerous times call for fights and war: it _has_ been a peaceful decade.

"Thank you, Kaito-kun, but I think you're underestimating your Hokage… fairly greatly, I might add…" I answered calmly, throwing a knowing look at those in front of me; of course, only Neji caught my meaning as he smirked back, before turning serious and narrowing his eyes at Kaito.

"Kaito-kun…" he begun, trapping the boy with his eyes. "I'll let it slip, this time, because Gaara-san took your phrase for what it was – a compliment towards him – but the next time I hear you speaking that way about Hokage-sama, you won't get away this easily, understood?"

"But—!"

"No buts, Kaito-kun. You know perfectly well I can't stand people who badmouth others, much less if it's a newly promoted genin like you badmouthing the head of the village." Neji's voice gave no room for arguments.

"… Guys…"

"No, Kaito, sorry but you should have known better…"

Not for the first time, I was surprised by the strong way in which the Hyuuga defended Naruto… though it wasn't that rare a sight, to witness a Konohan shinobi defending his 'honor' and his right to be where he was: Naruto was the Yodaime Hokage's son and so many other things, no one deserved that position better than Naruto.

"Neji-san, I think Kaito-kun has learned his lesson, there's no need to punish him; what's more, I doubt Naruto would want you to get so worked up for a child's slip of tongue." I interrupted the tense silence with a small smile, knowing the Hyuuga wouldn't have pushed the matter if I said it was all forgiven.

"Thank you, Kazekage-san!" exclaimed the young genin, bowing.

"Neji-san… I think you should prepare to go back to Konoha…" I changed topic: it was getting late both for me and Hyuuga's team. That said, I rushed to write the responses to the scroll I had received (one for Naruto and one for my sister), sealing them and handling them to the jonin. "Here. Have a safe trip back home."

Neji was almost out of the door, when I stopped him. "Neji-san, as glad as I am to see you so at ease with a genin team, try to be a bit more easy-going… you have changed a lot (as I have) but emotions are not so simple to get a hold of: try to be more understanding with Kaito-kun – Sai-san has never been that good with emotions as well. " I concluded smiling one final time before letting the Hyuuga go.

_… __I wonder what my future nephew will think of Naruto… haha!_


	3. Inari

_Hello everyone! :D_

_I'm extremely happy today because I finally finished this chapter! God knows I had no intention of making it this long, but it just kept going and in all honesty I can't say I would like to cut some parts ^^ I really love how it turned out.  
I know I haven't touched this story in a long while, but I kept thinking about it all along and I had a lot of different ideas for this chapter that just didn't seem quite good enough, until I started writing this - although it took its sweet time to take some solid form and then I admit I took my swee__t time in getting my ass to sit still enough to press the keys on the keyboard :P_

_Now, the next one I still haven't a clue on what is going to be about... but I have another 'problem': should I put Sasuke in here too (as the picture shows) or should I just leave him and not bother?_

_Words: 6933_

_Enjoy!_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 XD_

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**Gaara and the 'We-Got-Some-Sense-Beaten-Into-Us-By-Naruto' club**

_**(Gaara and Inari [and Tazuna])**_

"What did you say…?" I was staring at Baki, who was seated two feet across from me, behind a wooden desk and on a high-back leather chair – it was admittedly a dramatic but positive change: now it resembled an actual 'Kage office (granted, the only other office I had been inside had been the Hokage's, after the failed 'rescue Uchiha' mission) instead of the main room of an harem or whatever could be found in places such as the palace of Kaze no Kuni's Damiyo (not that I ever went there, what with my psychotic behaviour of a couple years ago and whatnot, but I'd heard rumours). My former sensei stared back at me, his usually half-covered face completely exposed as the cloth that would hang over the right part of his face was pinned to the turban to keep it away; he sighed imperceptibly, if in exasperation or surrender I really didn't know nor cared to find out.

"You heard me, Gaara…" he said, fixing my eyes dead on, so I could understand he was serious, and propped his elbows on the desk entwining his fingers in front of himself. "your proposition has been accepted." I didn't answer. I was seriously considering asking him he was kidding but knew better than that – Baki was too dedicated to his role (and to his life) to try and pull my leg on this matter – so I just blinked and stayed silent; he seemed to sense I wasn't quite convinced because he let a side of his mouth quirk up before speaking again. "Yes, the Council agreed on appointing you as Godaime Kazekage, in a relatively short while and after a bit more of experience, of course."

At that, I let myself relax and smile ever-so-slightly. Sabaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage… it sounded strage, but a _good_ kind of strange and a sudden warmth started at the pit of my stomach as a very familiar voice sprung up in my mind _"The name's Uzumaki Naruto and I'll become Hokage, dattebayo_!" and my smile widened on its own – it seemed I had reached that dream before him, which saddened me a bit because I hoped he wouldn't feel offended at me surpassing him, but also proud and grateful because it was thanks to him that I could achieve this. "Experience?" I questioned, leaning my head to the side.

"Yes, you see," started Baki. "while I believe you know enough of what being a 'Kage means, as you've watched your father – however unwillingly – do his work… the Council, as well as myself, thinks you might need to…" he stopped, coughing twice as though he was thinking of an appropriate word. "… uh, _hone_ your diplomatic skills a bit more." I nodded to let him know I understood his point and I truly did: I didn't have much problems with the whole paperwork issue – they actually would provide me with something to do during my sleepless nights – I already had a pretty effective way of dealing with the Council when they tried to play tough because I was just tougher then them all and I was learning quickly how to write diplomatic letters to dignitaries or other important people – not other 'Kages or Damiyos yet though. In short, the only area where I was actually lacking was interacting with people diplomatically… that had never been my forte… I was never one to talk a lot and, even if my vocabulary has always been far larger than that of most people my age, I rarely said things that did not somehow revolve around 'die', 'I'll prove my existence' or 'get out of my way'—and variation of those.

"What do you have in mind, then?" I snapped out of my thoughts, uncrossed my arms from in front of my chest to bring them behind my back, standing up a bit straighter and clenching my right wrist with the left hand. At the point I was, I would have done my outmost to prove I had matured enough that I had control over both my demon and my temper and that I was a good choice to lead the village – and hopefully to bring it back to its old glory, to the days when my father, although cruel to me, used to be a real leader and not a man whose mind was but a reflection of a power greater than his… it was kind of ironic really, the one who had ended up completely loosing his will had been him rather me, who had a _real_ demon inside my mind…

Baki waved a hand at me. "Oh, we'll start off easy: we need to make sure you can deal with potentially annoying people first…" I felt compelled to point out I hadn't even maimed Kankurou after some decidedly inappropriate comments about me and Matsuri he had sprouted after we came back from rescuing her. The 'substitute Kazekage' let out a bark out laughter at that. "I guess you have a point. Yet Kankurou is your brother: even if you were to hit him once in a while for some good reason, it wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident; thing that would happen were you to lose your cool with someone important. I'm sure you see what I mean." I nodded and he went on. "Alright, I'm going to assign you an escort mission. The client is Tazuna-san, he is currently in Konohagakure because the Hokage had requested for his services; your assignment is to escort him and his young nephew back to Kirigakure safely."

"May I ask a question?" I interrupted Baki with a small frown, he nodded. "If Hokage-sama asked for Tazuna-san's services, why does Suna need to escort him home? Can't a Leaf team do it instead…? They're much closer to Wave Country than we are…"

"Konoha has a bit of a shortage in her ranks at the moment and giving this mission to genin teams wasn't apparently the best course of action, so the Hokage has kindly asked us to handle the journey back as a favour – and with an extra fee for the trouble." Baki paused before relaxing against the backrest of his chair; he picked up a piece of paper which most probably contained the details of the mission. "This man has become rather famous in his country… the bridge he built some years ago, connecting Kiri to the rest of the continent, has proven a great help in getting the Country's economy back up… I wouldn't be surprised if people tried to attack him, so that's probably why ninja of higher rank than genin are best to escort him."

I silently agreed with the reasoning. Although genin teams were supervised by a jounin sensei, if the need arose to fight potentially dangerous ninja, one jounin-level shinobi alone might be not enough if the attackers were more than one or two… "Agreed. I'll take the mission." Baki nodded. "In short, all I have to do is go over to Konoha, escort Tazuna-san and the kid back home and return, is that it?"

"Basically, yes." said Baki, watching me with what interpreted as slight amusement. "You're not going alone though; Temari and Kankurou are coming too. The mission will take at least two weeks, maybe more considering you'll have to travel as civilians…" I grimaced at that – the journey will be _long_. "but there's no need to hurry, so you can take it easy." I nodded once and turned to walk out when Baki spoke one last time. "Good luck, Gaara. I'll be waiting for your return... with the hat in hand, maybe."

-x-

Two and a half days later, Temari, Kankurou and I arrived at Konoha. We went straight to the Hokage to take over the mission officially, see who this Tazuna-man was - not that it would have made a difference: it wasn't like one of us had ever seen him anyway - and, hopefully, get out of the village soon: the sooner we started, the sooner we could head back home... I really didn't have much of a reason to stay in Konoha more than was strictly necessary... Uzumaki had left for a long training journey and wasn't coming back any time soon. Deep down I felt somewhat sad at the thought I wouldn't get to see him for a long while; I had felt the need to tell him how I had decided to change, to try to be a better person and that I was aiming at the position of Kazekage... I could just hope the loud-mouth would be glad to hear the news, whenever he did, anyway.

"Who the hell are these kids?" the loud voice cut through my thoughts and I berated myself for getting distracted; I turned my head to look at whom had used such rude words: it was a tall, aged man (around fifty or sixty years old) with short white hair, broad shoulders and strong-looking arms—all in all it was the body of a constructor, a bridge builder, in his case. I felt my right eye spasm a little, who was that man calling 'kids'? "I'm going to be escorted by this group of kids...? Where's the adult that's supposed to be with them?" continued the man. Again with calling us kids... then it hit me, he thought we were _genin_—my eye twitched again; I was starting to understand why Baki had mentioned this was going to be an exercise to test my patience with 'potentially annoying people'... that person had yet to even indroduce himself and I already wanted to punch him... fortunately, the Hokage decided to speak up and explain the situation.

"Tazuna-san," she began, and I inwardly sighned: I _had _hoped the man wasn't our client, but it seemed it was a foolish hope. "I believe you have misunderstood the situation; these three young shinobi are not genin: Temari-chan and Kankurou-kun are both jonin and Gaara-kun is a very skilled chunnin, therefore they are considered a team and will escort you back home." I saw Temari clearly biting her tongue at the '-chan' part, she was trying to hold off any remarks (and she was doing a great job, considering her temper) while Kankurou snickered at her expance; as for me, I didn't mind that Tsunade-sama had not mentioned my 'Kage-in-training-hood and had only mentioned my chunnin status—I _was _still only that, after all.

Tazuna looked skeptical as he continued to look at us... or more specifically, he was pointedly looking at me. "That midget is a chunnin? Doesn't look very strong to me..."

There was a long, heavy silence following those words.

I distantly registered my right eye twitch for the third time, two rapid spasms, while I was THIS close to yell in my head. What the fuck? Did I really hear that old man calling me **midget **and implying I was **weak**...? I was both angry and surprised; that had to have been the first time someone had thought such a thing about me because I was so used to people knowing what I was and fearing me for it, that the issue of my (rather short) height had never been brought up by anyone. Suddenly, all my previous annoyance was gone and I was regarding the man across the hall with a slightly different light in my eyes—he was a rather interesting subject, the likes of which I hadn't seen in a while actually... maybe this mission wouldn't be that much a bother. Maybe. There were still some factors to take into consideration: Tazuna-san had better stop calling me kid or midget, we had not met the man's nephew yet so we didn't know how he was and I was _hoping _- again; and finally, to arrive in Kirigakure there was the at-least-a-week-long journey...

"Gaara?" Temari interrupted my thoughts and I turned my head towards her: she had a drop of sweat slowly making its way down her brow and a hint of worry shining through her dark green eyes... her shoulders had tensed infinitesimally while I was lost in my own mind, she was ready to jump into action if I lost my temper... old habits died hard, I realized, and most _she _hadn't even realized her defensive stance herself. I sighed minutely and turned my attention to Tsunade-sama.

"Alright," I started quietly, "if this is everything, then we'd better get going... it's a long way to Kirigakure if we have to go there as civilians." I noticed Temari relax considerably as I spoke and Tazuna-san looking at me with something akin to confusion, but he said nothing and I dismissed it, only waiting for the permission to leave. Hokage-sama stared at me for some time, a slow smile stretching her red-painted lips upwards in an amused way.

"Yes, you may go, Gaara." The four of us went to exit the office when the blonde Hokage caught my attention. "It's a pity he's not here, eh?"

I watched her out of the corner of my eyes, that smile was still in place but I could see her gaze had softed a little. "Yes, it is..." I agreed before letting my own lips curve upward an inch and finishing my sentence, "but I'm certain he'll come back much stronger; that's how he is, isn't it?" My question was met with a pleased laughter that meant the older woman thought the same thing. I tipped my head politely and closed the door behind me.

-x-

We escorted out client to a nearby inn, where we caught a glimpse of the man's grandchild - a short kid around ten years old, with black hair and a white hat shadowing most of his face and a frowning mouth as he scolded his grandfather about being late. I told Tazuna-san we would have met him and his companion at the Eastern Gates an hour later and, for the second time, the old man stared at me, apparently confused by the authoritative way I spoke when the Hokage had told him I technically had the lowerst rank in our three-man team. I smirked in my mind: never judge based only on appearance—Naruto had taught me that.

After an early lunch at Ichiraku Ramen and after a solid punch at Kankurou's stomach for his stupid assumptions and sneaky comments about my choice of eating place, the three of us found ourselves in front of the Gates. As I stood there waiting, I let my eyes travel upwards to the top of the defensive wall encircling the village... suddenly I remembered of the time when, soon after the 'Rescue Uchiha Mission', the still-wonded knuckle-headed had shown me one of the best views of Konoha, exactly from the top of the walls... that had been the last time I'd seen him, more than a year ago now. It was strange to realize for myself how much I had changed - more internally than externally, to tell the truth - in the space of twelve months: Shukaku had been real quiet, not yelling bloody murder in my head anymore or trying to overtake me, the relationships I had had improved exponentially and I was steadily starting to form more. Of course it'll take time, but things were finally beginning to look up.

"What? We're going away already...?"

"Yes, Inari. I'm afraid our stay here is over." Recognizing the second voice, Kankurou and Temari turned their attention to Tazuna-san and his grandson, who were coming our way. The kid had a frown on his face, clearly displeased at the thought of leaving, and his voice had the whiny quality of someone who was trying to make a point of annoying others into complying to his wishes. Before the boy could open his mouth to retort, the man spoke again in an understanding tone. "I know you wanted to see him, but apparently he's out of the village. We'll just have to wait for another occasion." The boy finally seemed to give up on arguing, his shoulders deflating just as the two stopped in front of us.

"Who were you talking about?" Asked my brother, unable to keep his mouth shut - he was so nosy, sometimes.

The ten year-old kid looked up at him, narrowing his dark brown eyes. "That's none of your business!" He shouted, glad to have an excuse to yell at someone, it seemed. Tazuna-san threw him a reprimanding look that apparently went unnoticed, while Kankurou was ready to curse the boy off before Temari intervened cuffing him on the back of his head, hard. Despite her apologetic smile on Kankurou's behalf, my sister's eyes were glowering at the rude answer Inari had given—she would have loved to hit him too.

I stared at the glaring trio and sighed a little then, unfolding my arms, I brought them out of their contest. "If we're all set, I believe we should be going." Without waiting, I turned around and started walking towards the forest; less than a minute later, the sound of other four pairs of feet followed me.

At sunset, I could say we had made a fairly good progress, all things considered. We set up camp and I found Inari's eyes following my every move... no, he was following my _sand's _every move, with a mildly awed expression that shone through the deep frown on his young face; he was still sour that he had to leave Konoha without getting to see whoever he wanted to (I had to force out of my mind the 'like me' that sprung up at the thought) but seeing my sand float in the air seemingly on its own, the tense traits eased with amazement. _Kids_, I thought, _always getting excited over nothing_. Of course, it was impossible to see such an expression on children in Suna: they were raised to fear me, whenever they saw my sand they backed away scared - when they didn't outright run for their lives, that is. Even with that constant gaze on me, I didn't acknowledge the kid with more than a expressionless glance back.

At one point, after Tazuna-san's nephew started to whine again about missing this person, Kankurou's infamous curiosity came back again; I was beginning to wonder as well about this guy the kid ahd been so eager to meet in Konoha, so I didn't reprimand my nosy brother for once. "Who is this guy you've been whining about, eh gaki?"

"It's none of your—"

"Inari." Interrupted the old man in a scolding tone, before turning to us. "Please don't mind him, he lacks manners sometimes." He shot another look at the kid, "The fact is that when he heard I was coming over here, he begged me to come so he could see an old friend of ours... well, he's not actually _old_, he's around your age..." Tazuna-san stopped to glance at me briefly, then he continued, "we met him and his team two years ago and they escorted me home like you're doing now. The first time I saw him, I thought he was a stupid, loud mouthed kid... annoying as hell, and pretty much useless as a shinobi—he even got a hand stabbed with a poison-infused blade during an attack not too long after we had left the village." He laughed a little and I could see Temari and Kankurou sweat drop at that; I frowned minutely: somehow the description sounded familiar... "It wasn't until we got ambushed by that scary ninja with bandages over his face and a giant sword, that I started to see him in a different light... he preferred getting beat up rather than letting the enemy stomp on his hitai-ate and he defiantly challanged an obviously stronger opponent without a second thought..."

_Ah... now I know who he's talking about..._ I thought with a smile; from the side of my field of vision, I saw my sister smirk and shake her head as she too understood the reference. Kankurou had a blissfully ignorant look on his face as he waited for a name to be spoken. "If your village is allied to Konoha, you might have heard of this kid..." Continued Tazuna-san, "His name is—"

"Uzumaki Naruto... correct?" It wasn't even really a question, because I was sure he was the person they were referring to. My sudden partecipation to the conversation caught everyone's attention and I noticed Inari's piercing scrutiny x-raying me like he thought I was planning somethng unpleasant, which actually managed to elicit an amused snort from Shukaku who had remained dormant for more than two weeks. The boy found it suspicious that I knew Naruto... and I was quite curious to hear what his relationship with my blond-haired friend was, but I wasn't one for sticking my nose into other's business (that was Kankurou's area of expertize) so asked nothing and did not offer an explenation on why I knew Naruto. Thankfully, both of my siblings knew to keep those kind of 'tails' to themselves: it was, after all, an important part of my life and I was the only one who could decide whom I'd confide it to - the list was restriced, for obvious reasons, to a few individuals (a list where, besides Temari and Kankurou, were Baki, Matsuri, Hinata-san, Lee-san, Tsunade-sama and two or three others... sure, most people in Konoha knew on varous degrees what happened between him and Naruto, but the full version wasn't so freely spoken of).

For the time being, I was content to let them wonder.

Inari, though, didn't seem to think it was worth pondering over what I had said.

In the following week of our journey, he tried to convince me to tell him how I knew his friend, constantly sticking to my side like he got glued to it; his tactics and approaches were different and somewhat ingenious, I'll give him that, but still it was starting to get hard for me to repress the twitch of my eyes eveytime I so much as heard the kid open his mouth to repeat one of the fifteen variations of the "How did you meet Naruto-nii?" question. Once or twice I actually had to slower my pace, take a couple of calming breaths and clench my hands less I wound them around the pale thin neck to squeeze—luckily Temari and Kankurou were there too to distract Inari and keep him away from me long enough, so that my instincs cooled down again and I was good to go for another day. I think Tazuna-san was really beginning to second-guess all the rude remarks he had thrown my way the first time we met... he realized I was a generally quiet and collected person, but taht I could get very _unpleasant _if I was bothered enough.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, Gaara-san?" told me the old man during a pause in our travelling - we were less than a day away from the bridge connecting the border of Fire Country to that of Wave, from there there was only a three/four hour walk to reach our destination. I nodded once and he continued. "You aren't a simple chunnin, are you? Somehow, the way the Hokage introduced you... well, it seemed like there was more to it..."

That earned two smirks coming from my siblings. "... Yes, I am slightly stronger that most normal chunnin." was my quiet answer. I saw that confusion in Tazuna's eyes return but, before the man could ask anything else, my brother decided to play 'nosy idiot' again: he laughed obnoxiously and crashed his hand on my shoulder heavily - a rather stupid gesture, as my sand still acted out on its own sometimes and it could have interpteted that as an attack and easily squished Kankurou's hand in a second - as the bridge builder and his grandson watched him with a small frown.

"C'mon Gaara, there's no need to be so modest on something like _this_!" He started, waving the hand that wasn't on my left shoulder; he threw a grin in the direction of our clients and proceeded to sprout my business. "Our small red-haired, here, is going to become the next Kazekage after we return from this mission!" he finished with a slight tint of pride in his voice... thing that, while it made a warmth spread in my chest, did nothing to lessen the glare I shot his way at the 'small red-haired' bit—so what if I was a little short for my age? When you're the most feared human in the village, people tend not to care if you have a healthy diet or not... and just because I was nicier, didn't mean I liked to be made fun of.

Tazuna kept looking at me all day after he heard about my current position, I guess he finally put all the pieces together and he understood just how much Tsunade's presentation of me had really left out. Being only a chunnin, officially, and yet I was going to be one of the youngest 'Kage ever at age fourteen... all in all, I think our client might have cursed Tsunade if he hadn't realized just how safe it made him, being escorted by two jonin and the Godaime Kazekage-to-be. As I saw the old man glance at me with a new light in his dark eyes, I confess I might have felt a _little _smug about it. Inari had a similar reaction but for a relatively short peroid of time: no more than two hours after the 'revelation', the kid had grown out of his awed silence and returned full force with his barrage of questions, only now they were more centered on "How comes such an important person like you knows Naruto-nii?"—to tell the truth, being considedred an important person pleased me... it felt like a confirmation of the road I had decided to take.

"Why are you eager to know about Naruto and me?" I asked the boy, deciding at least to try and satisfy some of my own curiosity. Sometime during the journey, after I heard that these two strangers from another country knew the person who had saved my life, a thought had struck me... previously, I confess, I kind of thought I was a special case... the only one who got to see that light guiding me toward the right path, but now I understood that was a selfish train of thought: Naruto had helped not only his own fellow shinobi friends but also people like that boy and Tazuna-san and I found myself wondering just how many others had been saved by those blue eyes that hid nothing of what passed in them. Maybe listening to the tail of someone who, to some extent, had my same experience might have helped me grow more into what my future as Kazekage would require...

Inari stayed silent for a moment, then, "I haven't seen him and the others in a long time, I'm curious to hear how his life's going... if he's making good on his promise!" he said, all serious, before shooting me a small grin. "We wouldn't want a bad reputation to stick to our Country, you know." I tilted my head to the side, not understanding and Inari, seeming catching my confusion, explained. "Is this your first time travelling to Wave since the bridge was built, Gaara-san?" I nodded and to my slight irritation, the kid only barked a laugh. "Then I won't say anything more: you'll like the surprise." He supplied, very unhelpfully. I generally hated surprises.

The next day, around ten in the morning, we reached the end of the forest and with it, we entered in Wave. There was a thin layer of mist, not to thick to cause problems though, so we noticed the bridge when we were pratically under it. I casually raised my head and caught sight of the large metal label over the arch: 'THE GREAT UZUMAKI BRIDGE', it said. I stopped dead in my tracks, eyes wide and mouth willing to drop to the gound—to say I was shocked was an understatement. Never in my dreams would I have expected to see Naruto's name on a _bridge_... My siblings weren't reacting any better, on the contrary: Temari's mouth was hanging open in an unelegant 'o', while Kankurou had his eyes almost falling out of their sockets and his hands were twitching. And the laughter coming from Inari coupled with the chuckling curtsey of Tazuna-san weren't helping us at all.

"Told you you'd have liked the surprise!" came the kid's voice, still heavily laced with merriment.

"Let's hurry, shinobi-san, we're almost home and I'd like to be there for dinner." added Tazuna as he and his grandson began walking. "My daughter is a great cook." he informed us without turning back to look at us.

-x-

The house we stopped in front of was especially simple, if well preserved, considering it was property of possibly _the _most important person of the island besides the Mizukage herself. We were greeted by Tazuna's daughter - a young looking woman around Temari's height, with long black hair reaching past her hips and light brown eyes that sparkled in joy at seeing her father and son back at last; she turned to us, then, smiling widely and thanking us warmly for having escorted 'her men' home safely. Tsunami-san, as she introduced herself, invited us to stay over the night and eat with them and before I could decline saying I wanted to start the travel back, Temari shoved me to the side and accepted the offer without a second thought, Kankurou fervently nodding his assent as well... I was outnumbered, so I had no other choice but to go with their decision.—Not that I minded.

Dinner, like Tazuna-san had anticipated, was rather good and filled with idle chat all the way through. After a dessert made of ice cream, Tsunami-san prepared our sleeping mats and then took out a deck of cards. Most of the present were playing when Inari, who had gone to shower a little while before, came back and sat next to me... I wanted to shift away but decided against it and stayed where I was, letting my eyes wander over the living-room until they rested on a photo on the other side of the room - it seemed a not-too-old family portrait, with Tazuna-san, his daughter, a five or six year-old Inari and a man with black hair; all were smiling happily and the man had a hand on top of the boy's head and the other arm around Tsunami-san's shoulders. Inari's father, maybe? A little to the left of that photo, there was another one, decidedly more recent and looking at it I was drawn to it... I made my way over and stood there gazing at the group portrayed: Tazuna and Kakashi in the back with Tsunami-san a little to the right but still in the back and, in front of the three adults, Naruto with a grin splitting his face and his hand behind his head, Sakura with a shy smile, Sasuke with his usual scowling mouth (thought it looked less pronunced than the last time I'd seen him) and lastly, standing right in front of the blond ninja, Inari with a huge smile and teary eyes mirroring Naruto's pose.

"That was the last time I saw them." I turned and Inari was standing beside me, watching the picture with a slightly glazed look. He was most likely remembering that time.

I was considering something in my mind... I was curious and wondered if the boy would have told me about when he met Team 7 - from the photo, it should have happened shortly before the start of the chunnin exams, two years before. "Inari..." I said quietly, comforted by the fact that everyone else was busy and not paying attention to us, "would you... tell me about then?"

"Well okay," he said looking at me and raising a finger, "**but **only if you tell me too." I nodded hesitantly - I'm sure my story was a little more personal then his, but I couldn't very much leave the kid with nothing - and walked out of the front door, Inari following me, and sat down at the edge of the platform sustaining the house. The silence was, surprisingly, companionable as we both watched the moon reflecting in the waters. "So, Naruto-nii... you might find it strange, but the first time I saw him I got a very bad first impression." he laughed, unaware of the fact I didn't find that the least bit strange, "His easy-going attitude, his always smiling face... they were _so_ annoying!... You see, I was passing a difficult period... the man I thought of as a father had been killed a year before, in front of my eyes, on a bastard's orders... Gato, that was his name, had taken control of the island and when my father tried to oppose him, he took him and made his execution an example for everyone who wanted to go against him. I changed after that: I started thinking that heroes didn't exist and that hoping to change our situation was useless... I tried to act tough, but I couldn't help crying every time I was in my room with my father's photo in hand." Inari shook his head with a self-pitying smile.

"When my granpa came back with Kakashi-san and the others, and heard they wanted to help us taking care of Gato, I told them it was wishful thinking... that it was useless, that they were all gonna die... they stayed here for some time waiting for Kakashi-san to get better and all the while Naruto-nii, Sakura-san and Sasuke-san trained hard. I didn't understand why they tried so much fully knowing their enemy was stronger..." Inari didn't notice my almost invisible flinch at the mention of the Uchiha runaway, "One night Sasuke and Naruto-nii came home exhausted, saying the had competed their task... during dinner I continued to stare at Naruto, while I though of my father, and suddenly my sadness became so difficult to contain that I started yelling, giving voice to my questions... Naruto-nii answered 'Whatever kid, I'm not like you.' and I told him I'd hate being like him, that he knew nothing about me, that he was always joking around happily... I told him he didn't know how hard life was..." the last part was barely whispered - both of us knew how untrue that statement was - but then the boy surprisingly started laughing. "I still remember how angry Naruto-nii became hearing that - his eyes burned a hole through me - he asked me if I was fine just staying here and cry all day... he yelled back at me: 'Jut keep on crying forever, idiot!'; he even called me a sissy!"

I let a smile pass briefly on my lips—it sounded like the Uzumaki Naruto I saw at the exams, brash and blunt. "I can imagine that."

Inari nodded in acknowledgement, then he continued. "It was Kakashi-san who made me see the real message under Naruto-nii's words: he couldn't stand whiny people like I was because he'd had a life way harder than I had, yet he learned to use the pain as a way to become stronger... he understood that there was no use crying, because if you won't always have someone caring about you—if worse comes to worse, you have to take care of yourself, despite the harshness of life. To Naruto, seeing me crying like that, was probably an irritating thing 'cause he had stopped with self-pitying for a long time already." I was about to retort, for I was quite certain that was not what had passed through the blond's mind at the time... he had tried to shook Inari out of his depression by raising his voice to be heard loud and clear, to not be ignored in his attempt at reaching out to a kid that was obviously suffering... "But you know what?" Inari said before I could speak, "After Kakashi-san and the others defeated the ninja and Gatou was killed... right before going back to Konoha, he also told me that it was fine to cry when you're happy." he finished with a big grin and eyes alight with sheer happiness.

The two of us stayed there on the dock-like structure sustaining Tazuna-san's house for a while, silence stretching as both myself and Inari thought back to our lives before meeting the blond-haired ball of energy. After almost two years of asking myself just what had really pushed me into changing... driven me through the most intense clashing of wills with Shukaku I'd ever had and coming out victorious - at last deciding for myself in complete freedom... I finally had a confirmation: Uzumaki Naruto **had **a special power—not one related to brute strength or genius... it was a power that only partly reflected his Jinchuuriki status, because I'm certain he would have had that kind of empathy even without the difficult childhood he had due to Kyuubi. The warmth and the light radiating off of him was something he was born with.

And I could finally see that it was a gift affecting those he came in contact with.

Yet, it wasn't a blessing everyone would understand... someone would reject it, not understanding.

... Once again, I found I was grateful I'd fought with Naruto.

"Oh, yeah!" Inari woke me up from the thoughts, tuning to me and raising a finger. "You still have to tell me how you knew Naruto-nii!" I smiled at him and prepared to share the _entire _encounter for the first time since the fight - not even my siblings knew what had happened exactly back then, but Inari would _**see**_.

-x-

"What did you say...?" I was staring at Baki, sitting in his leather chair with a satisfied smile on his lips. The mission to Kirigakure had finished and we were able to return home in five days; the whole ordeal had turned out a far more relevant happening than what I would have imagined when we set out for Konoha. "I'm not sure I got that right..." I whispered, mildly shocked.

The smile on my former sensei's mouth turned into an amused smirk at my incredulity. "You heard me well, Gaara." he said and threw a knowing look behind me, where Temari and Kankurou were standing, no doubt having the time of their lives at seeing me so taken aback. "Really, Gaara, I thought I'd told you before you went on that mission... you knew it would have happened soon." I said nothing in return—yes, I had known the Council had finally taken into consideration my proposition and had agreed in naming me Godaime... but I wasn't expecting it _quite so soon_.

Baki stood up from the chair, walked the short distance separating us and stopped in front of me, looking me in the eyes with contempt before sighing. "... I thought you would have been happy, but maybe you changed idea—"

"No!" I was shocked at my own outburst, but apparently Baki and my siblings were not because the man's face morphed immediately back to a small smile and I could hear the muffled chuckles coming from Kankurou and Temari. "I... I want the post. I really do." I bowed slightly lower than usual and exhaled a barely heard 'Thank you' through a closed up throat, a faint sting at the corners of my eyes that I tried to hide staying in that position of a moment longer then, I tuned my back to the three in the office and shunshin-ed on top of the walls enclosing Suna.

_"He told me it was fine to cry when you're happy."_

As I watched the sun shining on **my **village, I smiled and let those tears run down my cheeks, the salty taste of true happiness slipping on my tongue for the first time in too long.


End file.
